The meaning of spaces in healthcare architecture for urban and rural hospitals in Malaysia: a study on the selected Malaysian hospitals

Creating space is the architect's forte.The synthesis of healthcare spaces to form the superfluous whole hospital has always been the basic role of healthcare facilities architect. However, architects in their hurriedness to meet datelines in putting together project schemes,these meaningful life rendering spaces were ignored to just spaces that relate, function,and need to be next to each other listed in the schedule of accommodation (SOA). These spaces are identified with equipment, activities and occupancies in room specification or room data.Budget is the bottom line.Aesthetic is left to the cosmetics concoction of the selected spaces of the facility and the gardens that boast healing environment. The 4th and 5th dimension of these spaces were generally left to the adaptation of user-staff and patients, as they see fit once they occupied at the end of the comissioning period. Where are the creators of these spaces? To Whom are the spaces for? What would be the ultimate aim? Are they being created for the very purpose? The paper thus intends to review and argue the concepts architects had generally tread in planning and design.The paper intend to synthesise the preliminary findings what these spaces meant to users in the urban and rural hospitals context in the selectted Malaysian hospitals as case studies